Hot Yoga

[OakLeaf]

Ha, that is so me. Just in the last few months I've started getting some serious work done on the psoas and iliacus and it's made an ENORMOUS difference in both my running and my yoga. It's kind of intimate and very uncomfortable to have someone's fingers digging around in your abdominal cavity, so you've got to trust your bodyworker, but I can't even begin to describe what a difference it's made. Those muscles can be so tight and full of adhesions, especially in people who if they're not sitting, are working mostly in the sagittal plane. All the yoga in the world won't release adhesions - I could stay in Wheel all day long, but I couldn't get my right foot to stop turning out and I couldn't get my lumbar spine to bend at all in any direction. It's so different now!! Just last month I was able to get my sit bones on the ground in Staff pose for the very first time.

(But I still can't do Sundial. Although I got the closest I have yet the other day - now I don't remember how the teacher instructed getting into it, there are so many different ways and I seem to get along much better with some procedures than other.)

[Crankin]

Oak, who is doing your bodywork? What kind of practitioner?

[rocknrollgirl]

Oak, who is doing your bodywork? What kind of practitioner?

I was wondering the same thing.

[OakLeaf]

My massage therapist is doing most of the hip flexor work. I'm seeing a new guy this summer and we're getting a lot of really good work done. It was actually my Florida LMT who first suggested doing my psoas after a few years of working together and building trust, but now that I know what it's about, I asked my Ohio guy to do them once I'd seen him enough times to feel comfortable. I think he might not have done them if I hadn't asked. Which makes me think about an article in one of their trade magazines I was looking at in his waiting room, talking about how a lot of LMTs don't even do glutes because of the perceived intimacy. The author's take was that that was ridiculous because they're such an important muscle group, and I agree, but then again I think there can be a pretty big divide between LMTs who see themselves as health care professionals, and those who see themselves as working in the beauty industry. Plus, I know for myself I'm shyer about the deep hip rotators and adductors, which probably need more work than I'm asking him for right now.

I also started seeing an AMAZING new chiropractor. She has credentials out the wazoo - among other things, she worked on the US Olympic Team at Salt Lake City, which takes a special certification from the IOC - as well as the Ohio State football team (which she might guilt me out of watching football before it's all over) - and she kind of works more like an osteopath than any DC I've been to before. A lot of ART on the shoulders (ow) and a lot of easing the vertebrae and pelvic bones into position, very little cracking.

I guess all in all, I'd recommend to any cyclist or runner, if you have a LMT you trust, ask them to at least check your psoas and iliacus. Those muscles almost can't help but be involved in any back, hip or even breathing problem (the psoas has fascial connections to the diaphragm too, and I'm definitely breathing more easily and fully since we started working on them). You can get a pretty good idea of the state of your iliacus on your own, by digging your fingers just inside the rim of the pelvic bowl, through the transversus.

[emily_in_nc]

(But I still can't do Sundial. Although I got the closest I have yet the other day - now I don't remember how the teacher instructed getting into it, there are so many different ways and I seem to get along much better with some procedures than other.)

I had to look it up as I don't always know all the names for the poses, especially since the practice I go to is conducted in Spanish, but I realized that YES, I can actually do Sundial! We did it in a couple of practices in the past two weeks, first time ever for me, and I even got a "muy bien" (very good) from the instructor. So, there are "easier" things I can't do, but this is something I can do.

That's wonderful about your bodywork, Oak. Glad it's made such a difference for you!

[VeganBikeChick]

I'm so glad to hear about all the great responses to this thread! Hot yoga might not be the *best* for the body, but it gets me up and sweating, and meditating, and I feel so good afterwards. I run cold all the time, so there's nothing better than walking into a hot room, sweating my head off, and coming out feeling hot. It's such a relief from always being freezing.

My favorite pose is savasana, or corpse pose . My least favorite is downward dog - because I have a very weak core/nonexistent upper arm strength. I'm hoping to someday be able to do vinyasa, after I get over my extreme dislike of downward dog, since vinyasa is all about chataurangas.

[Flirty&Fit]

I absolutely LOVE hot yoga. My problem is that if I am going too often (like 3 times a week) I lose weight. I realize this will make people want to punch me through the computer screen, but it actually is a problem for me. I want to maintain a healthy weight like anyone else, which means I have to be careful not to lose. Yes there is another side to the struggle people, and I know that some of you know what I am talking about.

I find that when I run or bike I don't have the same problem, but then again I am assuming with hot yoga it has to do with losing water weight through sweating.

Either way, hot yoga is my favourite way to exercise and I am really looking forward to finding a good studio in the city that I am currently living in.

[emily_in_nc]

My favorite pose is savasana, or corpse pose . My least favorite is downward dog - because I have a very weak core/nonexistent upper arm strength. I'm hoping to someday be able to do vinyasa, after I get over my extreme dislike of downward dog, since vinyasa is all about chataurangas.

Tee hee, I love savasana too (though today I had to squelch an incredible urge to scratch my nose!) but I also loooooove downward dog. That one is easy for me, which is a good thing, since my instructor relies on it a LOT. And I love chatarangas. The practice I go to is a blend of many different styles but always has a long vinyasa sequence after the warm up, and that is one of my favorite parts. It was much tougher when I started out, though. Patience and persistence is key!